India, Aug. 11 -- Will the Indian iPhone export miracle become a one-time flash in the pan? There are three ways of examining and answering this key question. The first is the recent media briefing by US President Donald Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook where the latter pledged to Make in America. To what extent will such endeavours impact ballooning Indian iPhone exports to the US? The second: how did a manufacturing laggard like India carve out the smartphone miracle? The third: why has India failed to replicate this in other sectors despite PLI (Production Linked Incentive) schemes?

The first answer is tricky. If the unpredictable Trump keeps his threat and India gets slapped by a 50 per cent (or even higher as he threatens) import tariff...